According to Jerome Kagan in the 20th century, “Genes and family may determine the foundation of a house, but time and place determine its form” (dictionary.
com). Sociologist have debated the subject of nature and nurture since 1869. The beginning of the nature and nurture argument started with an English man named Francis Galton. Galton would go on to do research in the field and observe the major impact education had on development.
However, the nature and nurture debate has progressed over time. Some individuals believe nature has played the most significant impact in who we become. Those who side with the nature argument believe that the arrangement of our genes determine who we become. Those who believe in the nurture side believe that genetics play a role in certain traits but overall our environment determines who we become. Moreover, the debate of nurture and nature can be related to my life. I have evaluated myself and observed these traits hard working, resilient, serious, analytical, loyal, and organized.
When I took a personality test in my sociology class in High School I was an ISTJ personality type which describes me pretty well. My goals are well thought out but I have different options in mind. While my first year at a four year University I will join the reserves. Moreover, I plan on getting my undergraduate degree in Business .
For my graduate degree I plan on going to school for law or marketing. After my education is completed I plan on becoming an officer in the military so I can proudly protect the rights of our citizens. My mission statement though is to become an ethical leader in my church and community. I have learned to value education because I have seen the negative effects of not getting a higher education.
Moreover, the nature debate has impacted my life. My physical traits I notice I have inherited are a larger nose from my grandfather, hazel eyes from my dad, brown hair, and short in height like my grandfather. I am very talkative and outgoing like my mother. My body type is slender like that of my father’s side. I am also very stubborn which I believe I was born with and comes from my father who is stubborn at times also.
I feel that nurture has had a significant impact on my life though. Moreover, the nurture side of the debate has directly impacted my life. From the beginning of my life I have been nurtured. I was nurtured on how to speak and how to act.
Through the socialization process I was nurtured on how to treat teachers and my elders. My education has helped establish my resilient, and hardworking personality as well. Also because of my education I came to love certain subjects such as history. My education was not the only important part of my nurturing process. Growing up I lived in a middle class family that worked very hard to make it by.
My father is a construction worker and my mother is a teacher. They instilled values of hard work, dedication, loyalty. The nurtured these values to me by leading by example. In my high school years though I was hardworking, dedicated, and loyal but I acquired negative traits. In my first long three years of high school I started to become angry, bitter, and rebellious.
This is because my father was bitter and angry and I feel this nurtured me to act the same way. This all changed though a significant event in my life humbled me and my father. Moreover, because of this event with my father it lead to an event of financial instability, and vulnerability. My mother started working more than sixty hours a week.
Because of my environment I evaluated my situation and started making dramatic changes in my life. My mother taught me by example that if you work hard you can achieve anything. The situation also taught me determination, independence, forgiveness, and the importance of spirituality in my life. After this event was over and my father had come home we changed our lives.
We started going to church as a family and learned the importance of spirituality. My parents nurtured the importance of the church. The church environment collectively with the people have taught me how important compassion, forgiveness, dedication, and loyalty are. These are a few values that have been instilled in my life since I started going to the church. Since I have been in college I have been nurtured to be self-sufficient. The environment of college has also allowed me to observe those I feel are making the right and wrong decisions.
Based off of these judgments I can decide how to direct my life. College has also nurtured me to become more organized and to plan things in advance. Nurturing has obviously had a significant impact on my life. The church has nurtured me to become more compassionate, forgiving, thankful, dedicated, and loyal. My family has nurtured me to work hard to achieve all my goals.
My education has nurtured me to be respectful of those who are my teachers and elders. My education has also nurtured me to become a critical learner and the importance of being thorough. Moreover, socialization has played an important role in who I have become. Through my church they have taught me to become more patient, kind, loving, obedient, and stronger.
I also played sports from a young age and this helped shape my teamwork ability. Teamwork skills are important to be successful in the real world. Speaking of teamwork I also volunteered and this was a socialization process. Volunteering taught me to be generous and kind. Through the process of nurture and nature it has dramatically shaped who I have become.
Some argue that your genetics determine who you become. I believe that we are born with certain characteristics but can be nurtured to think differently and change our behavior. The church significantly helped nurture me in terms of my patience. My education has helped nurture me in terms of intellectually and learning to be respectful. My family has helped nurture me and taught me the importance of hard work and loyalty.
I was born though with my physical traits such as gender, eye color, race, and certain personality traits. The reason I feel that nurture has played the largest factor in my life is for a few reasons. The first is because when I was younger I grew up outside of church and had bad role models. Because of these role models I did not always make the right decisions. After though I had something significant in my life occur in which I evaluated myself and who I was becoming. After this event I changed my life and became stronger, forgiving, compassionate, and determined to be successful.
Another reason I feel nurture has played the largest factor is because of the huge contribution the church has played on my character.
Bibliography:
Sincero, S. (n. d.
). Nature and Nurture Debate. – Genes or Environment?. Retrieved September 29, 2014, from https://explorable. com/nature-vs-nurture-debateCherry, K. (n.
d. ). The Age Old Debate of Nature Versus Nurture. About.
Retrieved September 29, 2014, from http://psychology.about.com/od/nindex/g/nature-nurture.htm
